Lynd Ward's First Wordless Novel
Gods' Man: A Novel in Woodcuts
Notes: The American prototype for the graphic novel, a wordless novel consisting of a sequence of black-and-white illustrations reproduced from Lynd Ward's wood engravings. The Library of America edition of this book describes it as "a modern morality play, an allegory of the deadly bargain a striving young artist often makes with life."
Despite being released the week after the great stock market crash of 1929, the book went through several printings and editions. This, the first printing, was issued without a dust jacket (a version with a dust jacket was issued later by the publisher Peter Smith).
About 125 images, printed on the front side (recto) of each leaf, plus front matter; about 256 pages.
Edition + Condition: First edition (first printing). A better than average copy with the typical wear to the edges and corners. There is a small stain to the upper corner of the page block, affecting about 6 leaves. Truly fine copies of this book, bound in quarter cloth and illustrated paper-over-boards, are quite hard to come by.
Publication: New York: Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, 1929.
Item No: #269885
Price: $400